Downtown Albuquerque
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Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, United States. It is where a significant number of the city's
highrise A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...
buildings are located, and is the center of government and business for the Greater Albuquerque metropolitan region. Downtown is roughly defined as the central area bordered by Marble Avenue to the North, Coal Avenue to the South, Seventh and Tenth Streets to the West, and the
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
and
New Mexico Rail Runner Express The New Mexico Rail Runner Express ( AAR reporting mark NMRX) is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and the R ...
railroad tracks to the East. The area on the east side of the railroad tracks is known as East Downtown or EDo. The downtown area can be easily accessed by several freeway exits from Interstate 25 and
Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
, which border the adjacent neighborhoods of EDo and Wells Park, respectively.


Geography

Downtown Albuquerque is laid out in a standard grid pattern, with numbered north-south ''streets'' and named east-west ''avenues''. Central Avenue (originally known as Railroad Avenue) is the main east-west thoroughfare through the center of Downtown, while Lomas Boulevard (originally New York Avenue) is a major east-west arterial through the north part of Downtown. Lead and Coal Avenues are significant one-way east-west thoroughfares through the south side of Downtown. The streets start with First Street just west of the railroad tracks and increase in number moving westward. Fourth Street was originally the main north-south thoroughfare through Downtown but today it is discontinuous, interrupted by Civic Plaza. The two block stretch between Central and Civic Plaza was once converted into a pedestrian mall, but was reverted to a vehicular roadway in late 2014. Since these developments took place Second Street has been the main north-south street through downtown. Fourth Street through downtown Albuquerque was part of
U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
prior to the route's 1937 realignment. Afterwards, Route 66 ran along Central Avenue until its decommissioning.


Districts

Downtown Albuquerque is divided into six official districts, which are identified by a unified system of signage and icons.


Courthouse District

Located on the north side of downtown, this district is bounded by Marble Avenue, Roma Avenue, Second Street, and Seventh Street. It is named for the three major courthouses located at the intersection of Fourth and Lomas:
Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse The Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse located in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The building was completed in 1998 and named in honor of Senator Pete Domenici at a ceremony in 2004. Since its completion it has be ...
, Bernalillo County Courthouse, and the Bernalillo County
Metropolitan Courthouse The Metropolitan Courthouse is a courthouse in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, housing the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. The building is located on the northwest corner of 4th Street and Lomas Boulevard in an area known as the Courthous ...
.


Warehouse District

On the north side of downtown along the railroad tracks, the Warehouse District includes the area between Second and the railroad tracks, north of the Convention Center to Slate Avenue. As its name implies, this area contains mostly warehouses from the railroad era.


Plaza District

The Plaza District is the central area of downtown, bounded by Roma, Copper, Seventh, and the railroad tracks. It is centered on Civic Plaza and includes many of Albuquerque's large office and government buildings including the Albuquerque City-County Building, the Convention Center,
Albuquerque Plaza Albuquerque Plaza, also known as WaFd Bank Building, is a high-rise or skyscraper on the south side of Civic Plaza 201 Third Street NW, in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is the taller of a two tower complex that contains class-A office ...
, the Compass Bank Building, and the
Albuquerque Petroleum Building 500 Marquette is a 15-story, high-rise office building located at 500 Marquette Avenue NW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The building was designed by Dwayne Lewis Architects and was completed in 1986. It is the fourth tallest building in t ...
. The Main Library of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System is also located in this district.


Arts and Entertainment District

This district is centered along Central Avenue and Gold Avenue east of First Street. It contains most of downtown Albuquerque's historic buildings as well as most of its shopping, dining, and nightlife destinations. Notable landmarks in this district include the KiMo Theater,
Occidental Life Building The Occidental Life Building is a historic office building in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Featuring an unusual Venetian Gothic Revival architectural style inspired by the Doge's Palace in Venice, the building is one of the cit ...
, First National Bank Building, and Sunshine Building. There is a small concentration of government and office buildings on Gold Avenue which includes the
Dennis Chavez Federal Building The Dennis Chavez Federal Building is a high-rise federal office building and courthouse located at 500 Gold Avenue SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was completed in 1965 and was built with the purpose of housing the U.S. District Court ...
, Gold Building, and Simms Building. Amy Biehl High School is also located in this district.


Transportation Center District

This is the smallest district, encompassing the area south of Central Avenue and east of First Street. Most of the district is occupied by
Alvarado Transportation Center The Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC) is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's ...
.


Casa District

The southernmost part of downtown, the Casa District includes the area between Gold and Coal Avenue, extending all the way west to Tenth Street. This is a primarily residential district, with a large number of
loft apartment A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...
buildings. Alvarado Square, the location of the PNM Building and the headquarters of
Bernalillo County Bernalillo County () is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Mexico.Bernalillo ...
, is also located in the Casa District.


Buildings


Tallest buildings

Downtown Albuquerque contains most of the city's highrise buildings, including the four tallest. The tallest downtown buildings are listed below:


Historic landmarks

There are a number of buildings in downtown that are on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
: * KiMo Theater, one of the city's best-known landmarks * The old Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse * First National Bank Building * Hotel Andaluz *
Occidental Life Building The Occidental Life Building is a historic office building in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Featuring an unusual Venetian Gothic Revival architectural style inspired by the Doge's Palace in Venice, the building is one of the cit ...
* Old Post Office * Simms Building *
Southwestern Brewery and Ice Company The Southwestern Brewery and Ice Company is a historic brewery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, located adjacent to the BNSF railroad tracks in East Downtown. Built in 1899, it is one of the only surviving 19th-century commercial buildings in the downto ...
* Sunshine Building


Transportation

Downtown is the center of public transit in the city, and is served by a network of
ABQ RIDE ABQ RIDE (City of Albuquerque Transit Department) is the local transit agency serving Albuquerque, New Mexico. ABQ RIDE operates a variety of city bus routes including two Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) bus rapid transit lines and one ARTx ex ...
routes including local routes, both the Red and Blue
Albuquerque Rapid Transit Albuquerque Rapid Transit, also known as ART, is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system serving the Central Avenue corridor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. There are two lines running between Tramway Boulevard ( NM 556), the Central and Un ...
BRT BRT may refer to: Transportation * Block register territory, a method for dispatching trains * British Rail Telecommunications * Brookhaven Rail Terminal * Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, a former transit holding company in New York City * Bro ...
routes, and the Blue
ARTx ArtX was a company formed in 1997 by a group of twenty former Silicon Graphics, Inc. engineers, who had worked on the Nintendo 64's graphics chip. The company was focused on delivering a PC graphics chip that was both high performance and cost eff ...
route, most of which include stops at the
Alvarado Transportation Center The Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC) is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's ...
. ABQ RIDE operated a free circulator bus service in the downtown area named Downtown Get Around (or "D-Ride" for short), which was replaced by various local routes on May 12, 2018, such as 12th Street/Rio Grande (routes #36 and #37) and Menaul (route #8). All inbound routes to the
Alvarado Transportation Center The Alvarado Transportation Center (ATC) is a multimodal transit hub located at 100 1st Street SW in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The complex was built as a hub for Albuquerque's regional transit system and as a replacement for Albuquerque's ...
, except route #66 and ART and ARTx routes, have a fare-free zone downtown. In addition to local bus transit, the Alvarado Transportation Center also incorporates
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
and
Greyhound bus Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and p ...
facilities, as well as a stop on the
New Mexico Rail Runner Express The New Mexico Rail Runner Express ( AAR reporting mark NMRX) is a commuter rail system serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is administered by the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and the R ...
commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
line. The Rail Runner Express provides commuter service seven days a week along a 96.5-mile corridor that runs through multiple counties in New Mexico through 13 stations. EDo is served by several ABQ Ride routes, both ART routes, and is adjacent to the Alvarado Transportation Center.


References


External links


Downtown Action Team websiteDowntown District Map
{{authority control Neighborhoods in Albuquerque, New Mexico Economy of Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...